Thread: Child at heart with an old mans soul

At least thats how my girlfriend describes me, and I think she's onto something. Maybe its my love for a good whiskey to sip on, or the love I have for pocket watches, or the recent up take of the new hobby...that if you are reading this we share, straight razor shaving. Let's be real all of the above contribute to my old soul, but I wouldn't have it any other way . As far as I am concerned, it all helps me to appreciate the little things in life. Tasting for the subtle notes in a good whiskey, or appreciating the craftsmanship that goes into a pocket watch, and even the unique skill set it takes to straight razor shave (which I by no means have...yet), it all makes life a bit more interesting.

Dude, you've got it. My lady says that I was born about 100 years too late. Between my razors, pipes, scotch and my favourite smoking jacket (and yes it has elbow patches AND the collar folds up and buttons over your ascot tie), I think I'm set.

In this world, everything is either about instant gratification, or the the fact that instrant gratification is too slow. I love taking my time with things. Slowing down and enjoying the process, as opposed to getting it over and then onto the next thing without any thought.

Good on ya.

I work with mostly college age girls and girls that are seniors in high school (like myself) and they all call me "the old man" when they don't think I can hear.

Originally Posted by Devilpup

I work with mostly college age girls and girls that are seniors in high school (like myself) and they all call me "the old man" when they don't think I can hear.

WOW, I'm sorry. It must be tough surrounded by Co Ed's all day. I feel for you brother, and salute you. My next glass of Lagavulin is most definitely to you...
Cheers Mate....!

I was surprised to find out how much we all have in common. I've met and talked with people from all over the world, and it still amazes me.

Originally Posted by zib

I was surprised to find out how much we all have in common. I've met and talked with people from all over the world, and it still amazes me.

That is what surprised me too. When I met with Maxi and we were talking about the Nostalgia of straight shaving and the feeling just because it is new it is not right, our views were so similar.

I too am called an old man by my wife. But I consider it more an appreciation for simpler things. We live in such a disposable society, everything from technology to relationships are discarded in search of something better when there is probably nothing wrong with what we have.

Our lifestyles also move at break neck speed now, we are constantly in contact and connected with the world. Cell Phones, Computers, iPads, CableTV with 600 channels; we never shut down so to speak. We are constantly in GO mode. I remember as a kid (I am 43 now) the phone would ring during dinner and nobody would even budge, it was dinner time. We did not worry about who it was, or have answering machines to pick it up. They could call back after dinner if it was important. Now most people we know do not even sit down to dinner as a family, and those of who do feel if the phone rings we have to answer it, same goes for Cell Phones and Black Berrys.

I was as guilty of this as anyone untill about 18 months ago. My BB was never more than an arms reach away, every email that came in was checked instantly to see who/what it was. Since I have stopped that I am far more relaxed at night. When I am on the computer at night I am doing something for me (usually creeping SRP). But I do not go into facebook hardly ever now, Can not remember last time I logged into MSN and check emails periodicaly rather than constantly. I do not want people having access to me 24/7 and frankly I do not give enough of a crap about what most of the people emailing/texting/phoning have to say to stop what I am doing for me and my family that I want to stop that to deal with them.

/soapbox

I too am called an old man by my wife. But I consider it more an appreciation for simpler things.

I agree, I wear the "old soul" badge with honor. I consider it to be, like you said, an appreciation for the simpler things in life. I have said to people before that I have a low threshold of excitment (get excited easily) and that I am a big kid inside. Go ahead ask me what I want to be when I grow up. My answer is a chuckle and the admission that I don't plan to grow up, if I "grow up" completely then I will lose sight of the simple things in life. I guess I shouldn't be too surprising, however, that there are other people here on SRP that agree with me. It's more of an appreciatation amoung like minded individuals. Straight razor shaving takes more time to do, to learn and is more of an art than a necessity for looking professional at work (in my opinion). For someone to want to start this hobby, it is likely they are the type that looks forward to those times of the day where you get to "stop and smell the roses".

My next glass of whiskey, I raise to enjoyment amoung gentelmen.

I don't need to justify old man stuff because I actually am one. For most of my life I was the guy people came to for tech info. These days I rarely carry a basic cell phone and have nothing to do with all this tech stuff. I mainly use a computer to buy things, surf a few forums and do flight simulator. Oh, I've been collecting pocket watches for years. I have 50 of them.

Zib - it's not to bad for the most part. Most of them are nice and they're all within a few years of me. I just have to remind myself that I cant date coworker and to ignor the ones that are a pain.

Awesome guys! Give me a distinguished man with an old soul any day.

I am horrified when I go out and see all the young men running around with their pants around their knees with their boxers showing. They look like an unmade bed. I think it's awful that a sense of style has fallen out of fashion. Keep up the good work and set the example for what a real man should look like.

Lori

Gentlemen-I'll reply to this with an excerpt from a piece I wrote last summer for a summer writing course (I teach writing in a large suburban high school):

...And then, a few years ago I saw what many in our “quiet sport” call “The Movie,” meaning of course A River Runs Through It. That and a month-long road trip with my family in the summer of ‘06 into some of the wildest country in America in Montana and Wyoming began a deep and abiding love for the sport of fly-fishing, which I now pursue with my youngest son on many scenic streams in the mountains of North Carolina. To escape with backpack and fly-rod to these magical, out of the way places comes closer to restoring my soul than anything I have ever experienced, save loving a woman. I am closer to God and his creation there than I have ever felt in any church. To quote Norman Maclean in the closing moments of the movie (in the voice of Robert Redford, also an avid fly-fisherman): “I am haunted by waters.”

In the last year, having always been a fond collector of knives, I (along with my 16-year old oldest son) became enamored of straight razors, both collecting and shaving with them.
Well, Santa brought my 16-year old the perfect gift for his/mine (our!) latest obsession: a Dovo Best Quality 5/8" hollow-ground round-point with a solingen blade, and a beautiful handmade Tony Miller Latigo/Line n strop to keep it keen (I know, this hobby has more confusing lingo than fly fishing!). At any rate, we took turns using it, him on his two chin-whiskers, and me on my coarse beard. And though it's obviously going to take some practice to get BBS (baby's butt smooth) shaves, there is something very satisfying in a zen sort of way about the old-fashioned manly art of opening the pores with the steam towel, creating lather from a menthol-scented soap puck in a bowl, dabbing it on with the boar brush, and scraping off the whiskers with such a scary-sharp edge. Not content to just shave around my trademark beard, I shaved it off clean at the end of this school year. Just recently, for Father’s Day I got a fine Spanish Filarmonica razor and a badger-hair shaving brush, but I still miss my beard, gray hairs and all.

Along these same lines, I have other friends who also long to connect with the simple pleasures. [Friend's name omitted], for instance, a fellow English teacher, can pick a banjo, tinker on and restore old watches and cars, and has recently taken up bee-keeping. One of my oldest friends is a fine custom woodworker whose stunning creations are featured in magazines and galleries; he also homebrews exotic beers. Other acquaintances traipse the mountains collecting wild ginseng or morel mushrooms. One is a blacksmith.
I think I like wielding straight-razors and fly-rods for the same reason so many of us take to the simple traditional pursuits such as backpacking, hunting, picking a banjo, gardening, homebrewing beer, and yes, fly-fishing: for myself, the older I get, the more I need to connect to the authentic, the organic, the visceral in this fast-paced, high-tech, everything right now, 24/7, in-your-face world. So it's nice to connect to a skill that is thousands of years old.

Thoreau said it best 150 years ago, long before people allowed their lives to be ruled by chirping Blackberries: “Men have become the tools of their tools.” In his Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially The Two Towers, Tolkien explored the theme of the dehumanizing and destructive effects of industrialization and technology wrongfully utilized with his depiction of Saruman creating his army of Uruk-Hai. This contrasts sharply with the visions of a sylvan, almost Utopian ideal found in the Shire of the Hobbits. While I am certainly not a Hobbit, I too long to “get back” to life’s simple pleasures...